Systems and methods for communicating across various communication applications using single address strings

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing addressing strings formats and associated system implementations to minimize the number of different addressing strings used for communicating across different communication applications. The systems and methods receive a valid address string that can be inputted into a communication applications selected from a collection of communication applications wherein the same address string can be inputted for any selected communication application from that collection.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/220,658, filed Sep. 8, 2005, which is a continuation in part of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/579,947, filed May 6, 2000 and claims priorityfrom U.S. provisional applications: 1) Ser. No. 60/137,137, entitled“Error Correcting Addressing System for Internet, Telephone and OtherCommunication Systems Using a Single Universal Address String”, filed onMay 27, 1999; 2) Ser. No. 60/138,927, entitled “Error CorrectingAddressing System for Internet, Telephone and Other CommunicationSystems Using a Single Universal Address String”, filed on Jun. 11,1999; and 3) Ser. No. 60/153,426, entitled “Error Correcting AddressingSystem for Internet, Telephone and Other Communication Systems Using aSingle Universal Address String”, filed on Sep. 10, 1999. The text ofeach of these applications is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to addressing strings usedby different communication applications to communicate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Presently, users of most communication applications such as telephone,electronic mail (email) or internet websites are required to input apredetermined address string into a communication application in orderto establish the desired communication with the intended recipients. Forexample, the user of an email application must input an address stringin the form of a predetermined email address such as johndoe@address.comin order to send an email message to the recipient.

An address string is generally presumed to be a sequence of componentshaving alpha-numeric or other human and/or machine recognizablecharacters. Such address sequences can generally be of any length orcomponent type but their exact configurations are typicallypredetermined by the service provider of the communication application.For example in the case of telephone, the address string used is thetelephone number whose length and digit sequence are often set by thetelephone service provider. Likewise, in the case of an internetwebsite, a predetermined Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is typicallyused by an internet user to access a desired website.

The use of some address strings, such as telephone numbers, to establishcommunication with another location across a communication medium hasbeen well known in the art. But recent technological advances,especially in the computer networking and telecommunication fields haveresulted in the introduction of numerous new and/or different forms ofcommunication. For example, communication by use of electronic mail,World Wide Web sites, or other communication application such asfacsimile are amongst such previously unavailable alternatives to atelephone call.

The increase in the number of ways to communicate, however, has resultedin an undesirable corresponding increase in both the number and types ofaddress strings associated with each such form of communication.Furthermore, the underlying technologies used to implement such diversecommunication applications typically require a user to input an addressstring that is largely unique to that technology in order to operate andderive the desired benefit from the communication application. Even thecommunication applications of the same type but with different formats,such as an email application by two different email service providers,often require the use of different address strings. For example anindividual having email accounts with two or more email serviceproviders is a single recipient entity who will nonetheless have two ormore associated email addresses, usually in the form of one emailaddress for each service provider.

One problem with the existing approach of assigning one address stringper user per communication application is the generation of multipleaddress strings for a single recipient. For example, in trying toestablish communication with a hypothetical recipient

John Doe having email, world wide web site and a telephone, an end-usermust often know and correctly remember the distinct address stringsassociated with each such application in order to establishcommunication with John Doe using that application. The user would thushave to correctly input for example, johndoe@address.com to send Doe anemail, input an often lengthy and difficult to remember URL string suchas http://www.address.com/johndoe to access Doe's website and input aphone number into a phone system in order to establish telephonecommunication with Doe.

The requirements for an end-user to know and correctly remember theseparate address strings is further exacerbated by the prior art's useof Domain Names as website addresses. A Domain Name, such aswww.uspto.gov, is a form of an address string that is generally designedto include human recognizable characters and/or numbers in order to aidthe user with the finding and/or recollection of the correct addressstring. Once inputted into the communication application, a systemDomain Name Server (DNS) converts the Domain Name into a standardnumeric Internet Protocol (IP) Address such as 255.100.1.0 for internalnetwork use.

The implementation of Domain Names as address strings has not howeverbeen without shortcomings. Domain Names have grown increasingly longerin length over time, making them harder to remember. In addition, thereis a general lack of a standards as to what spelling conventions will beadhered to in the domain name composition, or even what language theyare to appear in. Since domain names are often registered for legalrecognition, such lack of standards often translate into having toregister a domain name in numerous ways to encompass the differentlanguages and/or spelling variations within each language in whichdomain name is to be used.

Furthermore, since for practical purposes there are a relatively limitednumber of words with which to create a domain name, legal ramificationssuch as trademark disputes and the illicit cumulating of domain names inviolation of cybersquatting laws have followed.

A DNS is also limited in the handling of errors or variations in theinputted Domain Name such as those caused by misspelling or mistakes,such as insertion of an underline instead of a hyphen in the address.These errors or variations often cause the DNS to not recognize and/orimproperly resolve the address string, resulting in the failure of theuser to connect to an intended destination in a DNS based system. Inaddition, a DNS based system is largely limited to the Internet webaddresses and does not address the problem of multiple address stringsfor other communication applications such as emails and telephonenumbers.

Recent attempts in dealing with the problems of several address stringshave revolved around consolidating the address strings by use of UnifiedMessaging Systems such as Microsoft's Exchange Server and MCI'sOnebox.com message delivery system. These attempts, however, fall shortof solving the problem of multiple addressing strings per user forseveral reasons. First, the messaging system approach revolves aroundthe sending of a message via fax, voice box, etc. This however, does notallow for a direct calling and connecting to a human being by a standardvoice call as in a telephone system. Second, the messaging systems areprimarily designed for a telephone service operation such as fax, voicebox, etc and still do not address the multiple addressing stringsproblem of other applications such as emails and URL.

It is therefore the objects of the present invention to address theforgoing deficiencies in the prior art.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention to provide systems to receive avalid address string that can be inputted into a communicationapplication selected from a collection of different types ofcommunication applications wherein the same address string can bevalidly inputted for any selected communication application from thatcollection.

It is another object of the present invention to provide methods forreceiving an address string in the format of a telephone number inputtedinto at least one communication application selected from a collectionof different types of communication applications wherein the sameaddress string can be validly inputted for any selected communicationapplication from that collection.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide methods forreceiving an address string inputted into two or more communicationapplications selected from a collection of different types ofcommunication applications wherein the same address string can bevalidly inputted for any of the communication applications from thatcollection.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide systems andmethods for generating a valid Internet address for an Internetcommunication application by receiving as input at least one inputtedstring, differentiating between valid components and invalid componentsin the inputted string and forming at least one valid Internet addressfor the Internet communication application from the valid components.

Another object of the present invention is to provide methods forconverting an address string into a predetermined Internet or emailaddress format by receiving as input at least one inputted addressstring of alpha-numeric characters and re-sequencing the inputted stringinto an output string of a different sequence format from the inputtedaddress string wherein the outputted string is in a predeterminedInternet or email address format based on the communication applicationused.

A further object of the present invention is to provide methods foroperating domain name servers by substantially dedicating at least onedomain name server to service one or more sub-level domain names whereineach of the sub-level domain names is represented by at least onenumeric or alphanumeric string in the format of a telephone number.

Another object of the present invention is to provide systems andmethods for mapping an address string to a predetermined correspondingnumber, recognizing numeric categorical identifiers in the mappedoutput, and re-sequencing the mapped output based on the recognizednumeric categorical identifiers to a predetermined hierarchical format.

Accordingly, these and other objects are achieved in the presentinvention providing addressing strings formats and associated systemimplementations to minimize the number of different addressing stringsused for communicating across different communication applications.

In a first embodiment, the present invention is a system forcommunicating across at least one communication medium. The systemincludes an input subsystem to receive an address string, the addressstring having a valid format recognized by the input subsystem andinputted into at least one communication application selected from acollection of different communication applications wherein the sameaddress string can be inputted for any selected communicationapplication from the collection.

In another aspect of the first embodiment, the present invention is amethod for communicating across at least one communication medium. Themethod includes receiving an address string having the format of atelephone number and inputted into at least one communicationapplication selected from a collection of different communicationapplications wherein the same address string can be inputted for anyselected communication application from the collection.

In yet another aspect of the first embodiment, the present invention isa method for communicating across at least one communication medium. Themethod includes receiving an address string inputted into two or morecommunication applications selected from a collection of differentcommunication applications wherein the same address string is inputtedfor any selected communication application from the collection

In a second embodiment, the present invention is a method and system forgenerating a valid Internet address for an Internet communicationapplication. The method and system includes receiving as input at leastone inputted string, differentiating between valid components andinvalid components in the inputted string, and forming at least onevalid Internet address for the Internet communication application fromthe valid components.

In a third embodiment, the present invention is a method for convertingan address string into a predetermined Internet or email address format.The method includes receiving as input at least one inputted addressstring, the address string including a plurality of alpha-numericcharacters, re-sequencing the inputted string into an output string of adifferent sequence format from the inputted address string wherein saidoutput string is in a predetermined Internet or email address formatbased on the communication application used.

In a fourth embodiment, the present invention is a method for operatingdomain name servers. The method includes substantially dedicating atleast one domain name server to serve one or more sub-level domain nameswherein each of the sub-level domain names is represented by at leastone string of numbers in the format of a telephone number.

In a fifth embodiment, the present invention is a method and system formapping an address string. The method and system includes receiving asinput a valid address string having at least one component wherein saidcomponent is a member of an alpha-numeric set, mapping each of thecomponents of said address string to a predetermined correspondingnumber, recognizing numeric categorical identifiers in the mappedcomponents, and re-sequencing the mapped components based on therecognized numeric categorical identifiers according to a predeterminedhierarchical format.

In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes but is notlimited to an implementation in form of an invention-specific computerexecutable software code present at the end-user and/or at server(s)within a substantially dedicated top level domain name or email server.The software operates to achieve some or all of the above describedembodiments of the present invention.

This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the inventionmay be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of theinvention can be obtained by reference to the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment thereof and to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Without limiting the invention in anyway, a number of exemplaryembodiments of the invention are described below in association with theaccompanying drawings. The Figures provided herein are referenced towithin the specification in order to better illustrate the workings ofexemplary embodiments of the claimed invention. They are in no respectmeant to be an exhaustive list of the various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1.0 illustrates a general method by which a user inputs a requestsinto an input device in form of an input string.

FIG. 1.1 shows a prior art example of multiple diverse requests by usersthat are inputted into multiple different input devices using multipledifferent system input strings.

FIG. 1.2 illustrates a sample business card displaying three distinctprior art ways for contacting the business card holder.

FIG. 1.3 illustrates an example of a business card displaying a way forcontacting the business card holder according to the claimed invention.

FIG. 1.4 shows an example of multiple diverse requests by users that areinputted into multiple different input devices using the claimedinvention's single system input string.

FIG. 3.0 illustrates aspects of the claimed invention as implemented onprior art systems having telephone and the World Wide Web.

FIG. 2.0 is a flow diagram illustrating in greater detail the workingsof the claimed invention in a World Wide Web environment.

FIG. 3.2 illustrates aspects of the claimed invention as implemented onprior art systems having electronic mail.

FIG. 2.1 is a flow diagram illustrating in greater detail the workingsof the claimed invention in an electronic mail environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The systems and methods of the present invention are generallyimplemented to minimize the number of different addressing strings thatare inputted by the users for communicating across differentcommunication applications.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1.0 illustrates amethod by which a user's input is translated into machine usable form.As shown in FIG. 1 a user action 100 such as a request to access a WorldWide Web (WWW) location is inputted into an input device 101 such as aWeb Browser in form of an input string 102.

FIG. 1.1 provides further examples of the general approach illustratedin FIG. 1.0. More particularly, FIG. 1.1 illustrates four diverse useractions 110-113 that are inputted into four different input devicesusing four different system input strings. In the 110 example, the useraction is a request for a telephone connection using a telephone numberas an input string. In the 111 example, the user action is a request foraccessing a WWW location using a prior art WWW address string as aninput string. In the 112 example, the user action is a request for anemail correspondence using a prior art email address string as an inputstring. In the 113 example, similar user actions are requests acrossother communication applications such as facsimile, File TransferProtocol, etc using appropriate prior art access methods as an inputstring for each communication application.

FIG. 1.2 illustrates in the context of a business card 120, one problemassociated with the prior art approach of having to use multipledifferent system input strings. As shown in FIG. 1.2, John Doe representa typical business card holder who can be reached by three differentcommunication application of telephone 121, the World Wide Web 122 andemail 123. The requirement to input multiple different system inputstrings for each communication application mandates that the businesscard displays each of the three distinct ways for contacting thebusiness card holder. A disadvantage associated with such approach isthat a user who wishes to contact John Doe must input a differentaddress string for each communication application used. In addition,should the business card become unavailable to the user, the user musttypically resort to memory in recalling the address strings forcontacting the business card holder and having to use three distinctaddress strings (one for each type of communication application)diminishes the user's chances of recalling each correctly. This problembecomes particularly exacerbated in the circumstances when only one formof the listed communication applications is available to the user. Forexample, a user might be able to recall Doe's phone number but not theemail address which the user may need at the time to forward animportant correspondence.

FIG. 1.3 illustrates an example of the business card shown in FIG. 1.2but utilizing the novel features of the claimed invention in minimizingthe number of required input strings. As illustrated in the example, theuse of only one input string 125 is sufficient for the business cardholder to be contacted using any of the three listed communicationapplications of telephone, the World Wide Web or email.

FIG. 1.4 further demonstrates the features of the claimed invention asillustrated in the business card example of FIG. 1.3. More particularly,FIG. 1.4 illustrates four diverse user actions 126-129 for contactingJohn Doe that are inputted into four different input devices but usingonly one system input strings. In the 126 example, the user action is arequest for a telephone connection with John Doe using Doe's providedtelephone number (here 18005551234IPN) as an input string. The “IPN”suffix can be inputted as three extra digits of 4,7, and 6 whichrespectively correspond to the letters “I”, “P” and “N” on a standardtelephone keypad. In the 127 example, the user action is a request foraccessing Doe's WWW location using the claimed invention's addressstring as an input string. In the 128 example, the user action is arequest for an email correspondence with John Dow using Doe's providedemail address string as an input string. In the 129 example, similaruser actions are requests across other communication applicationsanticipated to be within the scope of the claimed invention such asfacsimile, File Transfer Protocol, etc using appropriate access methodsas an input string for each communication application.

The workings of one embodiment of the invention is now disclosed ingreater detail starting with FIG. 3.0. FIG. 3.0 illustrates embodimentsof the present invention which for simplicity of the illustration areused in a telephone system or the World Wide Web environment.

As shown in FIG. 3.0, a user selects whether to contact John Doe via thetelephone or the World Wide Web. In selecting the telephone system 320,the user inputs the input string in the form of a telephone number intothe telephone instrument 321. To better demonstrate the workings of theinvention the sample input string 18005551234IPN from John Doe'sbusiness card is used throughout the detailed description portion of thepresent invention pertaining to FIG. 3.0. The user inputs the initialdigits by simply selecting the correct number on the telephone dial pad.The “IPN” suffix is inputted as three extra digits of 4,7, and 6 whichrespectively correspond to the letters “I”, “P” and “N” on a standardtelephone keypad. The additional “476” digits do not affect the initialstring since they are subsequently discarded as superfluous digitsaccording to the telephone system protocols implemented on telephoneinstrument 321, telephone network 323, or another instrument tasked forsuch purpose. Standard telephone connection protocols are then followedto connect the user the target telephone instrument 325, here John Doe'stelephone.

In selecting the computer system 302, the user inputs the input stringwhich is in the form of a telephone number into the appropriate inputlocation of the client's software supporting the desired communicationapplication, such as the Uniform Resource Locator input box of a WWWcommunication application.

Currently, although some prior art communication applications for theInternet may recognize an input string which is in the form of atelephone number, they are limited to a specific registered form of theinput string, with each variation in the name requiring a newregistration. For example, a website for selling flowers registered as1-800-flowers would be recognized as different than 1800flowers whichthe user may have erroneously entered while trying to access the websiteand may result in the failure of the user to connect to an intendeddestination. The present invention addresses this problem byimplementation of an IPNS Logic 322 to convert an input string which isin the form of a telephone number into a validly recognized Internetaddressing input format while allowing for variations and errors in theinputted string. The details of the IPNS Logic software 322 are furtherdiscussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.0 below.

As illustrated in FIG. 3.0, the IPNS Logic 322 can reside at either theuser's end in form of a client software 316 supporting IPNS Logic 322,or it can be implemented at server's end such as a system databaseserver level 311, or both, as illustrated by the 317 flow. A systemdatabase server is typically a Domain Name Server (DNS) or a similarsystem. The operations of Domain DNS or a similar systems are well knownto persons skilled in the art.

In one aspect of this embodiment, the user's address string is inputtedinto a client software 316 that supports the IPNS Logic 322. Theinputted address string is then converted by client IPNS Logic 322 atthe client's end to a validly recognized Internet addressing inputformat. The converted input is then sent through the Internet to anappropriate system database server 319 or 311 as shown by paths 318 or317. The server 319 or 311 would in turn map the input string to anInternet Protocol (IP) address of the target computer or network device307 following existing protocols and return the IP address to the clientsoftware 316. The client software 316 would then utilize the IP addressto lead the user to the intended target computer or network device 307supporting the desired WWW location, here John Doe's website.

In another aspect of this embodiment, the user's address string isinputted into a prior art software 308 that does not supports the IPNSLogic 322. The existing client software 308 would then follow theexisting Internet address resolution protocols and forward the addressstring to an appropriate system database server 311 which supports IPNSLogic 322. The inputted address string is then converted by IPNS Logic322 at the server to a validly recognized Internet addressing inputformat, then mapped to an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the targetcomputer or network device 307 following existing protocols. The IPaddress is then returned to the client software 316. The client software316 would then utilize the IP address to lead the user to the intendedtarget computer or network device 307 supporting the desired WWWlocation, here John Doe's website.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 2.0, the workings of the IPNS Logic322 is now disclosed in greater detail. In a flow diagram, FIG. 2.0demonstrates the process sequence within the IPNS logic unit 322.

At stage 200, the user-entered address string is inputted into the IPNSLogic Unit 322. To better demonstrate the workings of the invention thesample input string 1800JKL1234.IPN is used throughout the detaileddescription portion of the present invention pertaining to FIG. 2.

At stage 203, the portion of the address sting that describes the domainname for which the name server is authoritative is removed. In this way,the IPNS sequence portion within the inputted address string isidentified and segregated from the rest of the inputted address string.For example, in the case of the 1800JKL1234.IPN input string, the “IPN”is removed, leaving the identified and segregated IPNS sequence1800JKL1234 as the outcome.

At stage 204, the values of each of the characters within the IPNSsequence is translated to a system(s) or system administrator(s) definedvalues. In an exemplary embodiment, the values are translated accordingto the following table which is based substantially on a telephone dialpad configuration:

0 is translated to a 0 1 is translated to a 1 2abcABC is translated to a2 3defDEF is translated to a 3 4ghiGHI is translated to a 4 5jklJKL istranslated to a 5 6mnoMNO is translated to a 6 7pqrsPQRS is translatedto a 7 8tuvTUV is translated to a 8 9wxyzWXYZ is translated to a 9

All other characters not included in the translation table such ashyphens and underlines are simply ignored. For example, the IPNSsequence 1800JKL1234 will be translated to 18005551234.

One advantage of the foregoing feature of the present invention is thatthe variations and mistakes such as insertion of an underline instead ofa hyphen are filtered out in the translation process. For example, hadthe user inputted 1-800-JKL_(—)1234, it would have been still translatedto the correct 18005551234 sequence. Thus in a prior art DNS basedsystem that is often sensitive to errors, such variations and mistakeswill not cause the DNS to not recognize and/or improperly resolve theaddress string and result in the failure of the user to connect to anintended destination.

At stage 205, the order in which the characters, fields or acombinations of both are represented (generally from left to right) inthe translated IPNS sequence is re-sequenced into a new configuration offrom right to left. For example, the translated IPNS sequence18005551234 will be re-sequenced to 43215550081.

At stage 206, the re-sequenced IPNS sequence is segmented according to achangeable data-driven segmentation format. The segmentation format isused to determine the number of fields within the sequence, and thelength in number of characters, of each field for the purpose ofinserting dots (i.e “.”) in between the fields within the sequence. Anexample of a segmentation format is the 4-3-4 format wherein the IPNSsequence number is segmented from right to left, first into a group offour rightmost digits, then the next three followed by the last four. Adot is then inserted between each segmented group. For example, there-sequenced to 43215550081 IPNS sequence will be segmented under the4-3-4 format to 4321.555.0081. The segmentation is also data driven andrecognizes numeric categorical identifiers such as country code or localarea codes so that in the case of an inputted IPNS sequences having adifferent format, such as ones following the telephone number format ofa foreign country, a different segmentation format can be used. In anexemplary embodiment, the different segmentation formats are changeableso that adjustments to the formatting setup can be made when desired orneeded. In addition, the different segmentation formats are stored in adatabase for retrieval by the IPNS processor.

At stage 207, the removed portion of the address string at stage 203that described the domain name for which the name server isauthoritative is now re-attached to the re-sequenced segmented IPNSsequence. The result is to reconstruct the input string into a formatthat is compatible with the underlying communication technology andaddressing system. For example, the 4321.555.0081 is reconstructed to4321.555.0081.ipn.

Following stage 207, the name server is allowed to process the outgoingstring 209 as if it were an original DNS query, according to the DNSprotocols. If no alias information is found for the string, then thename server should send to the DNS resolver data which presents the newstring as the canonical name for the original domain queried, inaddition to any resolution data belonging to the new DNS address.

It is noted that the different stages and specific order of theforegoing operations are meant to be exemplary only and any processusing one or more of the disclosed routines which yields a string thatis consistent with the desired format of the outgoing string 209 isanticipated to be within the scope of the claimed invention.

FIG. 3.2 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention used inan electronic mail (email) environment. As illustrated, client softwares366 and 358 are connected to client email server 350 which interfaceswith the internet address-resolution system such as the system databaseservers 319 or 311 using IPNS Logic 322 in order to acquire the InternetProtocol (IP) address of target email server 355. The target emailserver 355 receives and processes the email message's address using IPNSEmail Logic 356 in order to resolve the address to a canonical emailaddress, and then forwards the email message to the recipient via path371.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.2 will now be discussed in greaterdetail. To better demonstrate the workings of the invention the sampleinput string 1800JKL1234.IPN is used throughout the detailed descriptionportion of the present invention pertaining to FIGS. 3.2 and later toFIG. 2.1.

Starting at stage 348, the user, based on the availability or selectionof the new or existing software, inputs the input string which is in theform of a telephone number into the appropriate location of either thenew client software 366 or the existing client software 358, both ofwhich support email communication applications and are connected aclient email server 350. For example, the user enters the address string“1-800-555-1234.ipn” or “18005551234.ipn” into (“Send to:”) box of anemail program running on a computer that is connected to the Internet.Currently, prior art email protocols generally do not recognize an inputstring which is in the form of a telephone number as a valid input dueto the absence of the “@” symbol in the string. The present inventionaddresses this problem by implementation of one or more of IPNSConverter Logic 351, IPNS Logic 322 and IPNS Email Logic 356. The IPNSLogic 322 used for the electronic mail communication application is thesame as the IPNS Logic disclosed in FIG. 2.0 in conjunction with theWorld Wide Web embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.0. The details of theIPNS Email Logic software 356 are further discussed in conjunction withFIG. 2.1 below.

In an exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.2 and following path365, the IPNS Logic 322 resides in the client software 366 and convertsan input string which is in the form of a telephone number directly intoa validly recognized Internet addressing input format. Because of therequirements of the existing email protocols, the converted inputtedaddress must generally include an “@” symbol and at least one characteror the client software will generally not accept the input in order toinitiate the address resolution process. The IPNS Convertor Logic 351then converts the output of the IPNS Logic 322 into a validly recognizedInternet email addressing input format by attaching an “@” symbol and atleast one character in order for the client software to initiate theaddress resolution process. Unlike the prior art systems however, in theaddress string of the present invention the “@” symbol and theaccompanying character are included merely to give the telephone addressstring the appearance of a valid address in compliance with the existingemail protocols so that the address resolution process may be initiated.One advantage of the foregoing feature is that the user is no longer inneed of entering an email address having an “@” symbol.

The new client software 366 would then send the converted input toclient email server 350. Since some client software applications accepta user input address string without an “@” symbol and forward them totheir client email server 350 for address resolution, the client emailserver 350 may also contain an IPNS Convertor Logic 351 to convert theoutput of the IPNS Logic 322 into a validly recognized Internet emailaddressing input format by attaching an “@” symbol and at least onecharacter. The client email server 350 would then send the input throughthe Internet to an appropriate system database server 319 or 311 asshown by paths 368 or 369. A System Database Server is typically aDomain Name Server (DNS) or a similar system, the operations of whichare well known to a person skilled in the art. The DNS server 319 or 311would in turn map the input string to an Internet Protocol (IP) addressof the email server that supports email service for recipient (here JohnDoe) following existing protocols and return the IP address to theclient software 366. The client email server 350 would then utilize theIP address to forward the email packets along with the user's addressstring to the IP address destination, generally belonging to a targetemail server 355 that supports email service for the recipient.

In another aspect of the FIG. 3.2 embodiment, the user's address stringis inputted into a prior art existing client software 358 that does notsupports the IPNS Logic 322. Because of the requirements of the existingemail protocols, the user inputted address must include an “@” symboland at least one character or the client software will generally notaccept the input in order to initiate the address resolution process.Unlike the prior art systems however, in the address string of thepresent invention the “@” symbol and the accompanying character areincluded merely to give the telephone address string the appearance of avalid address in compliance with the existing email protocols so thatthe address resolution process may be initiated. The user thus does notneed to know of any specific pre-set character sequence to enterpreceding the “@” symbol, as generally any arbitrary character inputwould now be sufficient. For example, the sample input string18005551234.IPN from John Doe's business card will be entered in theformat of:

<arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN.

The existing client software 358 would then follow the existing Internetaddress resolution protocols and forward the address string to theclient email server 350 which would in turn forward it to an appropriatesystem database server 319 which supports IPNS Logic 322. At some stagebefore entering the IPNS Logic 322 the “@” symbol and all precedingcharacters are generally separated from the domain name portion (herethe IPNS sequence) following existing email protocols. For example inthe case of <arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN, only the IPNSsequence 18005551234.IPN would remain. The IPNS sequence is thenconverted by IPNS Logic 322 at the server to a validly recognizedInternet addressing input format, then mapped to an Internet Protocol(IP) address of the email server that supports email service forrecipient (here John Doe) following existing protocols. The IP addressis returned to the client email server 350 which would then utilize theIP address to forward the email packets along with the user's addressstring to the IP address destination, generally belonging to a targetemail server 355 that supports email service for the recipient.

At the target email server 355, the IPNS Email Logic 356 maps the user'saddress string to a canonical email address of the intended recipient.The target email server 355 then forwards the email message to theintended recipient.

FIG. 2.1 further illustrates the process flow within the IPNS EmailLogic 356. At stage 213, the incoming data 210 is recognized as an emailmessage containing a valid address format, and is uploaded into the IPNSEmail Logic 356. A valid address format can be in either the format of atelephone number such as for example 18005551234.IPN or one usingconventional “@” symbol such as <arbitrarycharacter(s)>@18005551234.IPN. In this way, the IPNS Email Logic 356 canmap addresses coming from either the New Client Software 366 or theprior art client software 358.

At stage 214, the mapping of the user's address string to a canonicalemail address 214 is performed by the email server in order to determinethe email address to which to forward the message. For example the userinputted address string of 18005551234.ipn or <arbitrarycharacter(s)>@18005551234.IPN is mapped to J-Doe@someisp.com whereJ-Doe@someisp.com is a functioning email account where John Doe receiveshis incoming email.

At stage 215, the email message is forwarded to the canonical emailaddress found.

In an exemplary embodiment, the target email server 355 includes adatabase which contains a list of incoming email addresses and theircorresponding canonical email addresses. The database is then queried bythe IPNS Email Logic 356 at stage 214 for mapping of the incoming emailaddresses to their corresponding canonical email. If a canonical emailaddress is found, the flow proceeds to stage 215 at where the process offorwarding the email to the canonical email address is initiated by theemail server in accordance with DNS, SMTP, POP, and/or the relevantstandards or protocols, if any. If a canonical email address is notfound, the target email server 355 alerts other relevant email serverson the network of an improper address in accordance with DNS, SMTP, POP,and/or the relevant standards or protocols, if any.

Thus as disclosed above, one IPNS Address, such as for example1-800-555-1234.ipn, can be used to make a phone call, access a web page,and send an email.

In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, at least onedomain within the domain name system is substantially (preferably 100%)dedicated to the servicing of the IPNS addresses. The dedicated domainname system is also organized to ensure that IPNS addresses are usable,in part, for actual standard communication with an intended partydirectly via telephone; for web-page access in relation to the intendedrecipient; and for the sending of an e-mail message to the intendedrecipient. The organizing feature also includes electronic orconventional publications of user and administrative manuals of all thepossible permutations of allowable addressing strings and use-parameterswithin the system. The user and administrative manual would disclose themakeup of the allowed addressing strings in the format of a telephonenumber within the dedicated domain.

The dedicated domain is also sufficiently sophisticated to recognize andprocess IPSN addresses which may contain additional human-readablemodifiers such as indicators of a telephone number extension or acompany trademark element in a defined position within the addressingstring. For example by entering the extension “321” in the format of1-234-567-8900×321.ipn would direct a communication or a request for aweb page to the phone number or web page of the person or departmentdesignated to be at extension 321 at that number within the organizationor business that has subscribed to the system of the present invention.Another example would be: 1-234-567-8900*Roger.IPN. This address stringwould direct a communication or request for a web page or email to thephone, email or web page of the specific person or department designatedto be at the extension allocated as “Roger” at that number asadministered within the system.

The addressing string could also be expanded by the addition of anyvalid Trademark held by the holder of the telephone number that ismirrored by the telephone-number-look-alike-string. For example, validaddresses that the system could recognize could be:1-800-555-1234.McDonalds.ipn or McDonalds. 1-800-555-1234.ipn.

The addressing string can also be expanded by the inclusion ofdot-delimited sub-domains prior to or after thetelephone-number-look-alike-string of one of the following types:

-   -   iii) (.)fax(.)    -   iv) (.)pager(.)    -   v) (.)cell(.)    -   vi) (.)message(.)    -   vii) (.)instant-message(.)    -   viii) (.)chat(.)    -   ix) (.)ftp(.)    -   x) (.)gopher(.)    -   xi) (.)e-mail(.)[redundant, but could be used]    -   xii) (.)web-page(.) (redundant, but could be used)    -   xiii) etc.

Other dot-delimited sub-domains also might be added over time. Forexample, a valid addresses that the system could recognize could be:1-234-567-8900.fax.ipn OR fax.1-234-5676-8900.ipn. In this case, thedomain's processing would indicate that the incoming data was a fax. Thedomain-processing itself would act as a “router” in this case to thecorrect final destination of any communication or request forinformation.

The dedicated domain system, in addition, processes the IPNS addressesaccording to error-correcting coded and programmed algorithms thatfacilitate the usability of the system. The processing in part includesthe loading of custom address-processing utilities in a dedicated domainname server within that domain; the loading of a custom e-mail utilityin a dedicated email server; and ensuring that the dedicated e-mailserver is accessible to the dedicated domain name system.

The dedicated domain is also provided with proper administration andtechnical services to assure that it is properly functioning. Properadministration of the dedicated domain includes, but is not limited to,the setting up of administration software to allow the representative ofthe dedicated domain to collect, input and store information from a newaddress subscriber. A database that contains the subscriber's canonicalemail address is used to map one or more iteration of atelephone-number-look-alike-string address to a canonical email addressand/or to the website address chosen by a subscriber. In this way, therepresentative of the dedicated domain or the subscriber would be ableto quickly change relevant elements of the database. For example, emailsent to a particular telephone-number-look-alike-string address can bere-routed to a different canonical email address for a period of time oras a basic change to the subscriber's profile.

Finally, the representatives of the domain or the subscribers would beable, through the use of the software, to add or delete modifiers to thebasic IPNS address, if any exist, such as having each instance of anIPNS address with a different modifier to map to a different canonicalemail address.

It is noted that the foregoing different embodiments of the presentinvention were illustrated separately at times for the purpose ofsimplicity of diagrams and related description of the specification. Anyprocess or system using one or more of the disclosed embodiments isanticipated to be within the scope of the claimed invention.

Other embodiments and advantages of the present invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It isintended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplaryonly, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated bythe following claims.

1-52. (canceled)
 53. A method for operating domain name servers, saidmethod comprising: substantially dedicating at least one domain nameserver to serve one or more sub-level domain names wherein each saidsub-level domain name is represented by at least one string of numbershaving the format of a telephone number.
 54. The method of claim 53,said method further comprising: organizing said domain name servers toensure said string of numbers are valid and connecting an originatingdomain name request to at least one intended destination domain name viaat least one communication application; and utilizing anaddress-processing utility program to process said string of numbersinto at least one format utilized by at least one said communicationapplication.
 55. The method of claim 53, wherein at least one saiddomain name server is a top level domain name server.
 56. The method ofclaim 54, wherein said address-processing utility program is acustomized world wide web resource locator.
 57. (canceled)
 58. Themethod of claim 54, wherein said address-processing utility program is acustomized telephone service feature.
 59. The method of claim 54,wherein said communication application is a world wide web resourcelocator.
 60. The method of claim 54, wherein said communicationapplication is a telephone service.
 61. The method of claim 54, whereinsaid communication application is an electronic mail application. 62-64.(canceled)
 65. The method of claim 53, wherein said domain name serveris operated by a telephone service provider.
 66. A method for mapping anaddress string, said method comprising: receiving as input a validaddress string having at least one component wherein said component is amember of an alpha-numeric set; mapping each said component of saidaddress string to a predetermined corresponding number; recognizingnumeric categorical identifiers in said mapped components; andre-sequencing said mapped components based on the recognized numericcategorical identifiers according to a predetermined hierarchicalformat.
 67. The method of claim 66, said mapping further comprising:mapping each non-numeric portion of said component of said addressstring to a corresponding number or symbol grouped in the format asrepresented on a telephone dial buttons.
 68. The method of claim 66,wherein said predetermined hierarchical format is a telephone systemhierarchical format.
 69. The method of claim 66, wherein saidalpha-numeric set includes all human and/or machine recognizablecharacters. 70-77. (canceled)